US Department of Homeland Security scraps ban on surveillance based on sexual orientation

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit has eliminated policies preventing staff from gathering intelligence on an individual or group based solely on their LGBTQ+ status, Bloomberg reports.

The department was formed in 2003 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in New York and on the Pentagon.

The DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis posted an updated policy manual late last week, which removes protections for LGBTQ+ identities in sections that set restrictions on gathering intelligence.

The changes come in the wake of president Trump’s executive order aimed at scrapping DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies and protections within federal agencies.

The General Requirements section of the OI&A manual now states: “OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”

The internet archive has stored a cached copy of the previous manual, which shows that it previously stated:

“OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions
and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”

The Office of Intelligence and Analysis has attracted criticism in recent years for, in the words of progressive nonprofit the Brennan Center for Justice: “engaging in abusive domestic intelligence practices targeting Americans’ political views and broadly painting certain groups of Americans as terrorists.”

The Brennan Center also accuses I&A officers of “conducting interviews with people held in jails without sufficient constitutional protections, targeting journalists and activists, surveilling racial justice demonstrators, and monitoring political views shared by millions of Americans — about topics like abortion, government, and elections — that DHS baldly asserts will lead to violence.”

LGBTQ+ people reacted with alarm to the news of the change to the manual, with one sharing a link to the Bloomberg story and tweeting: “Uhhh this seems really f**kin scary.”

Another wrote: “The DHS is now permitted to surveil citizens based ONLY on sexual orientation & gender. Why? The State Department says this is part of scrapping DEI terminology. But that language wasn’t related to DEI. Why would they need to investigate people based ONLY on sexual orientation?”

In November 2024, following his election victory, Trump picked anti-LGBTQ+ politician Kristi Noem to lead the DHS. She has long been a vocal opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, describing marriage as “a special bond between a man and a woman”.

In early 2022, Noem signed a bill banning trans student-athletes from playing in sports leagues that align with their gender identity, saying it would “ensure that we have fairness and a level playing field” in the Mount Rushmore State.

Noem was also responsible for an anti-trans ad promoting her re-election campaign in 2022, which activists labelled “discriminatory rhetoric”. Later that year, she avoided discussing LGBTQ+ rights with a star of HBO’s We’re Here by allegedly hiding in her office.

In 2023, the governor was sued by trans group The Transformation Project after a contract they had with the state’s Department of Health was cancelled, which they claimed constituted discrimination.

The case went in the group’s favour and the state was forced to issue a letter of apology and pay a $300,000 (£235,000) settlement. Susan Williams, the project’s director, said: “The government has acknowledged what we knew: that we did not break any procedures and did not fail to meet the terms of the contract. The government cancelled our contract because of the very population we serve: the transgender community.”